Finding the Best Internet Service Provider for You

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Finding the Best Internet Service Provider for You

 

What's the best ISP? It depends. Do you want the cheapest? The best user support? The fastest?

If all you want is e-mail and access to the World Wide Web, almost any ISP (Internet service provider) will do, although the price ranges vary widely, and how easy it is to get started may be the deciding factor for you. If you have never, ever used a computer in your life and get frustrated easily, you might want to choose a service that emphasizes ease, like AOL, MSN, or Earthlink. Look at the ISPs and online services with access numbers that are a local call from where you are. Assuming there's more than one, find out how much help is available from your provider. Talking to someone from an ISP you're considering before you begin, and asking your online friends how they like the services they use, can give you valuable insight into which ISP is best for you. These days, the biggest difference between ISPs isn't technical ? it's the level of service. Don't waste time with one that doesn't offer good service.

Many people prefer small local ISPs who have live people in the same town and know the local conditions. If you live in an area that offers cable or DSL access and you intend to use the Internet with any regularity, be sure to check them out. In many cases, they do all the setup for you and cost about the same as dialup if you consider the cost of a second phone line. Here at the TOTD, we use a large national company for DSL, but we use a local ISP (ILCS) to host our mail server and website host.  Besides excellent service from the owner, ILCS provides outstanding virus checking of all incoming email and thorough spam filtering.  I recommend it highly.  Call Pablo Castro at (305)248-6142 if you are interested.

For information on how to find an ISP with local numbers near you, check out this site's ISP directories.

Source: Dummies.com